Cooling unit for electric fans



E, H. CARSON COOLING UNIT FOR ELECTRIC FANS Filed Oct. 23, 1940 July 14, 1942.

Patented July 14, 1942 NT OFFICE coonnveI UNIT FOR ELECTRIC FANS Ellen Holmes Carson, Fayetteville, N. (l.

Application October 23, 1940, Serial No. 362,457

; solaims. (cite-91.5)

My invention relates to air circulating and cooling means.

An important object of the invention is to provide means oi the above-mentioned character which may be constructed in a relatively small unit, and is therefore adapted for householduse.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for effecting a proper circulation of the cooling gas or fluid within the cooling unit. Y

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the above-mentioned character which utilizes dry ice as a cooling medium for the air currents from a fan.

A .further object of the invention is to provide'appar'atus of the above-mentioned character having means for,holding dry ice and for circulating :ai'r creases about the dry ice and through heat exchange elements arranged in the path of travel of air currents produced by the rotating fan. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of; the above-mentioned character which maybe built with or installed upon a conventional electric air circulating fan without materially altering the construction of the same.

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide means whereby the air currents produced by the electrically driven fan will be employed to rotate a separate fan for circulating the cool- A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby a portion of the cooling apparatus serves as a part of the guard for the Figure 4 is a horizontal section on line 4-4.

of Figure 3, and,

Figure'5 is a plan view of one of the driving fans.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral l designates an electric fan, of the household type, including a base II and motor casing l2, housing the usual electric motor whlch drives a horizontal rotatable I fan shaft l3, carrying an air fan It. The base ll may be equipped with a switch I5 for regulating the supply of current to the motor, as is I well known.

shaped return pipe, the lower circularly curved The cooling unit comprises a receptacle or box I6, having a bottom." and an open top covered by a, removable lid or cover l8. Ar-

ranged within the receptacle it near and spaced from the bottom II is a ioraminous support or tray I9, which may be formed of an open woven wire fabric or the like. The tray or rack' l9 permits of the free passage of air or gas through the same and afiords a chamber 20 adjacent to the bottom I1. The dry ice is arranged within the receptacle upon and above the tray or rack IS.

The numeral 2| designates a generally U- portion-22 of which is preferably arranged in spaced concentric relation to the air fan l4 portions 23, which, preferably converge upwardly Y and are attached to the ends of the receptacle IE, but have no communication with the receptacle l6 except at points above the tray or rack I! through the medium of openingsrjd. The air or gas from the ends 23 therefore enters the receptacle It at its opposite'ends, above the dry ice therein and passes downwardly over and above the dry ice. Leading into the chamber 20 of the receptacle it through the bottom H are heatexchange tubes 25, arranged in groups upon opposite sides of the motor casing I2, there being any suitable number of tubes in each group. The tubes in each group are spaced so that the currents of air produced by the rotating air fan It may circulate by and between them. At their lower ends, the tubes 25 lead into the circularly curved portion 22 of the pipe 2|, as shown. It

is thus apparent that the air or gas will circulate downwardly through the receptacle H5,

through the tubes 25 and into the lower portion of the pipe 2| and then upwardly through the arms 23 of this pipe and back into the upper portion of the receptacle it, above the tray or rack is.

Means are provided to eilect this circulation,-

comprising a horizontally rotating circulating fan 26 arranged within the chamber 20 and positioned near and above the inlet ends of the tubes 25. The blades of this fan are so pitched that they force the air or gas downwardly through the tubes 25. The horizonally rotating circulat- 2 ing fan 26 is carried by a vertical shaft 21, held in a vertical stationary bearing 28. The shaft 21 carries driving fans 29 rigidly secured there to, and s pitched that they are rotated by the f mounted upon the motor casing l2 and will shift bodily with the motor casing if the fan is of the oscillating type. v

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: With the parts arranged as shown in the drawing, the dry ice is placed withinthe receptacle l5 upon the tray or rack l9. Whenthe air Ian M is driven it will project a current of air forwardly of it and draw in a current of air at its rear. The current of air traveling into the rear of the fan M will rotate the driving fans 29 which will in turn rotate the circulating fan 25. The circulating fan 26 will produce descending currents of air or gas through the tubes 25. This air or gas will enter the lower portion of the .pipe 2| and pass upwardly therein and reenter the receptacl I6 above the dry ice upon the tray or rack l9 and hence travel downwardly about the dry ice. The air currents produced by the air fan I4 pass forwardly by and between the tubes 25 containing the chilled air or gases and these air currents are suitably chilled. In this way, the fan will produce cool currents of air.

The pipe 2|, tubes 25, and receptacle 16 may be formed of metal or any other suitable material. I contemplate heat insulating the pipe 2l although satisfactory results are obtainable by using this pipe as a heat exchange element. The

receptacle l6 may also be heat insulated, if desired.

While I have shown my cooling unit as applied to a small fan adapted for household use, yet the invention is not necessarily restrictedto this application. The cooling unit may be applied to larger fans, such as are employed in air conditioning, etc. I also contemplate using ordinary ice as a cooling medium.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of .parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is? v 1. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said .cooling unit comprising a receptacle to hold a cooling medium, a return pipe adapted to be arranged in a surrounding relation with the fanand having its ends leading into the receptacle near the top of the receptacle, tubes leadinginto the receptacle near its bottom and leading into the lower portion of the return pipe, and means to support the pipe in a proper position with relation to the fan.

'2. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said unit comprising a receptacle for receiving a cooling medium, a foraminous tray arranged within the receptacle and spaced from its bottom, a generally U-shaped return pipe having its ends leading into the upper portion of the receptacle above the tray, tubes leading into the bottom of the receptacle and into the lower portion of the generally U-shaped return pipe, and means to cause fluid within the receptacle to travel downwardly through the tubes, and means to support the unit in a proper position with relation to the fan.

3. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said unit comprising a receptacle to receive a cooling medium, a return pipe adapted to be arranged generallyin a surrounding relation with the fan and having its ends leading into the upper portion of the receptacle, supporting means within the receptacle spaced from the bottom of the receptacle, tubes leading into the receptacle below the supporting means and into the lower portion of the return pipe, a circulating fan arranged within the receptacle beneath the support to cause fluid to circulate downwardly through the tubes, means to drive the circulating fan, and means to support the unit in a-proper position with relation to the electric fan.

4. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said unit comprising a receptacle to hold a cooling medium, a return pipe adapted to be arranged in generally surrounding relationwith the fan and having its ends leading into the upper portion of the receptacle, tubes leading into the lower portion of the receptacle and into the return pipe, a circulating fan arranged within the receptacle to cause fluid to travel downwardly through the tubes, means to cover the circulating fan, and an operating fan for driving the circulating fan.

5. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said unit comprising a receptacle for receiving a cooling medium, heat exchange means having its intake end leading into one portion of the receptacle and its outlet end into another portion of said receptacle, a circulating fan arranged within the receptacle to cause fluid to travel from the receptacle into the intake end of the heat exchange means, and means to drive the circulating fan, and means to support the unit in a proper position with relation to the electric fan so that the air current from the electric fan passes exteriorly of the heat exchange means and in contact therewith.

6. A cooling unit to be applied to an electric fan, said unitcomprising a receptacle to hold a cooling medium, heat exchange means having its intake end communicating with the receptacle and its outlet end communicating with the receptacle, a circulating fan to cause fluid to travel from the receptacle into the inlet end of the heat exchange means, means to support the unit in a proper position with relation to the electric fan so that air currents produced thereby pass about the heat exchange means, and a driving fan arranged to be operated by the air currents and connected with the circulating fan to rotate '7. A cooling unit to be applied to a household electric fan including a base, a motor casing and an air fan, said unit comprising a receptacle adapted to be arranged near and above the fan for holding a cooling medium, a generally U- shaped pipe adapted to extend generally circumferentially about the fan and having its ends connected with the receptacle, heat exchange tubes connected with the receptacle and the lower portion of, the generally U-shaped pipe, said heat exchange tubes being arranged in groups adapted to be disposed upon opposite sides of the motor easing, the tubes in each group being spaced, and means for mounting the unit upon the motor casing. v

8. A cooling unit to be applied to a houshold electric fan including a base, a motor casing and an air fan, said unit comprising a receptacle adapted to be arranged near 'and above the tan -for holding a cooling medium, tubular means adapted to extend generally circumferentially w about the fan and leading into the receptacle, heat exchange tubes connected with the receptacle and the lower portion of the tubular means and adapted to be positioned at the rear of the fan, guard rods adapted to be disposed forwardly of the fan and attached to the tubular means, the guard rods and tubular means adapted to form a guard for the air fan, and means to mount the unit upon the motor casing.

ELLEN HOLMES CARSON. 

